


Welcome Home, Dr. McIntire

by LSims



Category: American Girls: Molly - Various Authors, Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: Crossover, Gen, I was talking about this in the Discord and well...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24047089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LSims/pseuds/LSims
Summary: The McIntire family settles down to listen to NBC's Tribute to the Troops contest, but the finale number leads them to an interesting conversation.
Relationships: Helen McIntire/James McIntire
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Welcome Home, Dr. McIntire

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all so I was talking in the Bandstand discord and I thought of this really cool crossover that would line up perfectly! I hope you enjoy it!

The wind was roaring, the rain was pouring, but the McIntire family didn't care. They were all snuggled up in the living room, enjoying NBC's _Tribute to the Troop's_ contest. Jill was curled up on the couch _,_ Ricky was lounging on the window seat, Brad was in his mother's lap, Helen and James were curled up in his chair, and Molly was laying her belly in front of the radio, petting her dog, Bennett. Dr. McIntire had only been home a week, and he couldn't have been happier. 

The song finished up, and the announcer spoke. "Our final group of the evening hails from the great state of Ohio, featuring a band of heroes representing the army, the navy, and the marines! Yes, folks, each and every one of them triumphantly back from the war. And wouldn't you know, their soloist is a young lady who carries her gold star as proudly as anyone could. She sings tonight from heartbreaking experience, a song called " _Love Will Come and Find Me Again_." I'm sure everyone listening joins me in the certainty that her brave fallen soldier up there will hear her every word. So, without further ado, I invite you all to welcome to the stage, _The Donny Nova Band Featuring Julia Trojan_!"

Jill cheered, and Ricky rolled his eyes. 

"Oh please, they're not even that good."

"They are _too_ , Richard." Molly snapped back.

He stuck his tongue out at her, and Jill shushed them as the music started. Her brow furrowed as a fast-paced, almost frantic tune was heard. 

"That's not _Love Will Come and Find Me Again_." She said. "I heard them when they first played at the preliminary, this isn't what they're supposed to be playing."

The family stood in silence as they heard a voice whisper _faster_. 

'What's he doing? What are they doing?" Molly asked as the phrase was repeated. Suddenly they heard the voice say _now sing_ , and the words " _Johnny made it home,_ " floated out.

" _Most of him at least/_  
_Had three operations/_  
_But the pain has not decreased._ "

"What are they--"

Jill was cut off by her father holding up a finger and shushing her. The family all watched as James leaned toward the radio as if he was entranced by it.

" _Nick learned to survive, means you never trust/_  
_Once you see the worst in man then how do you adjust?_ "

"James?" Helen asked quietly, looking at her husband with concern. He ignored her, focus purely on the song.

" _Davy cracks a joke, claims to be alright/  
Drinks a fifth of vodka in his kitchen every night_ _._ "

Helen thought about the words in the song. Try as he might attempt to hide it, she's not blind to the increase of the amount he drinks, and the higher frequency. 

" _And I stand here trying/  
Like Mother Mary with my private burden of grief to carry_ _._ "

"Are they singing about the war?" Ricky asked quietly. 

"I think they are," Jill replied. The rest of the McIntire's joined their father in paying apt attention to the song.

" _Welcome home my boys/  
Welcome home my sons/  
Welcome home my husband/  
Welcome home my love/  
Welcome home, welcome home/  
Welcome home._"

Jill snuck a glance at her father and was alarmed at the fact that his face was wet with tears.

"Dad?" She asked, but once again she received no reply.

" _Wayne is never free, schedules out his day/  
Filling every minute just to keep the ghosts away,_"

Dr. McIntire's tears grew harder. He thought of his own ghosts, the screams, and cries of the wounded and dying soldiers that haunted his dreams, the way he jumps whenever Ricky bounces his basketball or one of the kids slams the door to hard. The military habits he can't break, no matter how hard he tries. _These guys get it_ , he thinks. _They're telling our story_.

" _He could never get back the life he had/_  
_Faced with raising kids who did not recognize their dad._ "

That did it. His tears turned to sobs, and, shaking, he suddenly stood up and limped out of the room.

"James?" Helen cried, following him. She went to put a hand on his shoulder but was smacked away. She stared at her husband, mouth agape and eyes brimming with concern. 

"Do you want me to turn it off, Dad?" Molly asked cautiously. 

He shook his head and spoke for the first time since the song started. "No, turn it up."

She obliged.

" _Jimmy made it back to town four months ago/_  
_Lived to tell of things no one could bear to know/_  
_Keeps his guard up now a lot goes undiscussed/_  
_Focuses on fighting what he finds unjust._ " 

Ricky thought about the lines. _Keeps his guard up now a lot goes undiscussed_. Dad's letters home had always been cheerful, only slightly sad at most. He'd never actively discouraged his dreams of the air force, but he always had this _look_ in his eyes when Ricky talked about it, and, the few times one of them had asked about the war, Dad would always brush off their enthusiasm with a strained smile and say _another time_. What _had_ happened over there? Maybe it wasn't as glorious as Ricky thought.

" _Welcome home my boys/_  
_Welcome home my sons/_  
_Welcome home my husband/_  
_Welcome home my love/_  
_Welcome home, welcome home_  
_Welcome home._ "

James had returned to his seat, embraced by Helen, but he was still crying. Brad had moved over to sit with Jill, looking at his father with wide eyes.

" _Donny does his best, trying to pretend/  
What he doesn't talk about won't matter in the end/  
Donny made it home but thinks it wasn't fair/  
How he made it out but left his buddy there._"

The whole family was crying now. Molly thought about when Emily lived with them, and how awful she felt when she had assumed that playing in bomb shelters would be fun, only to hear Emily talk about the fear of living through bombings. Had Dad too, like Donny, lost somebody dear to him overseas? She joined Ricky in feeling guilty about being so eager to hear Dad's war stories.

" _Donny doesn't sleep because the nightmares_ come,"

Jill choked back a sob of her own. Though she swore never to tell her parents, she could still feel the panic in her chest when she'd heard Dad screaming in the middle of the night a couple of nights ago. She had always been a realist, and she realized that Dad hadn't left the war in England.

" _Donny wants an answer  
Donny looks for absolution  
And I would give up anything if I could give him_ _some._ "

Helen buried her head in her husband's shoulder. She too wanted to give her love an answer, to bring him peace, make him forget. She was beginning to believe that that would probably never happen.

" _If I stand here helpless, my arms extended/  
Knowing full well, darling, your war's not ended._"

 _It really isn't, is it_? Molly thought.

" _Welcome home/  
Welcome home my husband/  
Welcome my love/  
Welcome home, welcome home/  
Welcome home my boys/  
Welcome home my sons/  
Welcome home my husband/  
Welcome home my love/  
Welcome home/  
Welcome home/  
Welcome home!_"

The family sat in silence as tears streamed down their faces. Finally, as the announcer rambled on about "surprises," Jill turned the radio off. They didn't need to know who won, they already had one. _The Donny Nova Band_.

She walked over to her father and gently took his hand, and the other children followed. "We love you, Dad." She said.

"I know."

"And we're sorry if we've ever made you feel uncomfortable. We were all so caught up in our own fantasy of war, we didn't stop to think about how it really is."

"Yeah," Ricky agreed "I've always thought of going to war as this great, honorable thing, but it's really not, is it?"

"No, it's not." Dr. McIntire agreed quietly.

"We'll always be there to listen to you if you want to tell us about it," Molly said, looking her father in the eye as the rest of the McIntire's nodded in agreement. 

"Not yet." He replied. "Someday, but not yet."

"And we'll be here to listen when you are."

"I love you Dad," Brad, who'd been pretty quiet throughout the conversation, said, climbing into his father's lap.

James gave a small laugh. "Me too, son."

Helen kissed her husband on the forehead and stood up. "We'll be there by your side no matter what, alright honey? McIntire's stick together, and when we put our mind to something, we don't stop. Now, I think it's time for bed."

"I'll say this," Ricky said as he stood up. "That _Donny Nova Band_ is actually pretty swell after all."

Everybody laughed. "Yes," Helen agreed, "we are _definitely_ seeing them if they ever come to Illinois."


End file.
